Little Blue Spitfire
by SpazzyLassy105
Summary: "Just because you've lived with worse before doesn't mean you have to settle with bad now." In which Rin is scared of his classmates' rejection but faces it anyway. T for cursing.
1. Should Have Known Pt1

**A/N: So, yeah. I watched Ao no Exorcist in two days, know nothing of the manga, and got completely hooked. Mostly on Rin. Uh, this is just gonna be a bunch of one shots and drabbles and mini-series' so, read at your own risk, ahaha. :) **

**And I'm gonna ignore, like, all parts of the story line until I need them for a reference or something. Like, in****_ should have known _****the exwires haven't forgiven Rin for being a half-demon yet, but in the next one, they might be totally fine with it, and then in the one after that they might be back to 'let's hate Rin'.**

**Enjoy!**

Should Have Known pt.1

Rin cursed at himself for the _nth_ time, standing outside the door with the key in hand, wavering indecisively. He was _way_ to nervous about this, really. Hah, 'it's all in your head, Alice' had just taken on such a literal meaning. But...Alice wasn't hated by everyone around her. Alice wasn't...what was it that that retired old exorcist had spat at him while he was getting his groceries...oh! _Satan Spawn. _Rin had almost laughed at her. _If you're going to insult me, try to make it actually sting a bit, _he'd wanted to say.

But Jiji had taught him better than that. The little old lady looked too old and frail for him stay angry at her, and he knew that Satan had probably stolen away her life like he had so many others. With this realization, Rin had actually felt sorry for her. He pitied this woman, wrinkled and glaring death and spitting insults at him left and right. So instead of lashing out with a comeback that would be much more painful than her insult to him had been, he showed restraint that Yukio would have been proud of, had he been there, and smiled at the woman while placing the watermelon she had been trying to grab into her thin little arms. He smiled even as she demanded the worker get her a new one, as the one that Rin had gotten for her was probably 'infested with evil', and smiled still when the watermelon he'd given her splattered all over him because she'd thrown it to the ground.

He remembered the horrible, terrified look on her face the second after she'd done it, fearing his 'wrath', and recalled the rush of shame at causing that look, even if it wasn't exactly his fault. He lifted one clawed hand – saw her flinch, saw the rest of the market still in a combination of fear and grim anticipation– and speared a piece of watermelon off of his shirt. Rin then plopped it into his mouth, dragged the fruit off of his claw with his teeth, and to the astonished faces of the people in the market, sighed sadly.

"It's good. Shame you dropped it though."

The store owner had been very obviously biased and told Rin that because it was his fault (um, what?) the little old lady had _dropped_ the watermelon, he had to pay for it. He'd given a put-upon sigh and forked over the cash, along with the amount that he needed to pay for his own things. Rin had offered to clean up the mess, but the store owner 'didn't want any more demon germs to be spread around than needed' so he'd shrugged and strolled out of the little open-air market, picking watermelon off of his shirt for a little snack all the while and trying to figure out why the store owner needed to be involved in the first place.

With the ingredients Rin had gotten from the market, he fixed dinner and the bentos for the next day with Ukobach, chitchatting and explaining the watermelon splattered on his person. Yukio had been on a long mission, and had come home expecting mass destruction and disorder, but had been pleasantly surprised when the only interesting thing had been the fruit on his brother's shirt.

Rin explained the situation again, and then marveled at his brother's ability to keep calm and composed while mentally running through thousands of ways to find out who the old lady was and make her death seem like an accident.

Yeah, Rin took pride on the fact that he could see through his younger brother's poker face. He did _not _take pride on the fact that Yukio could see through his own much quicker.

So, Rin had subtly stolen Yukio's guns (huh, tails _were_ good for something) and played keep away until his brother's homicidal wrath was more focused on himself than the little old lady. He had gone to sleep a little bit bruised and a lot of bit hurting that night, but he was fine with it. He and Yukio had sparred together after the guns had been returned, a habit that Jiji had gotten them into. Once every couple of days, they would just let go in some empty room - it had started bfore Jiji had died, before Rin knew that he was half-demon, possibly before Yukio had begun his exorcist training. Rin knew now that Jiji hadn't wanted them to be completely defenseless if Satan were to pop up unexpectedly. But that was a story for another time (Jiji had done a lot of subtle things to prepare both twins for the possibility of demonic interference that neither of them had noticed until they were older).

The spar was a lit less, uh, _restricted, _as both of them were angry at the time; Yukio sour that people couldn't accept his brother and Rin because people couldn't accept him. They were fuming at the same thing, and taking it out on each other, and Rin thought that that was kinda stupid but the rhythmic lull of _punch dodge dodge kick roll punch dodge ow dammit twist punch jump _actually helped him let go of his anger at the misguided beliefs of people in general. He could tell that it had a good effect on Yukio, too, and they both went to sleep feeling satisfied, if a bit ragged.

The next morning, Rin woke up at five to make breakfast. He was, for lack of better words, a zombie, cooking breakfast and taking a shower in a weird, sort of half-asleep daze. He had almost accomplished forcing clean boxers onto his head before Yukio kindly reminded Rin that he had cram school today, that he would have to see his friends again. And that...well.

That woke him up quickly.

Yukio was actually kind of worried when Rin didn't make a fuss, instead opting to quietly stare at the wall for a minute before visibly shaking himself out of his thoughts and sending his younger brother a real-to-anyone-else grin.

"Yeah, I know. No big deal, right?"

Yukio stared at him.

And stared.

And stared.

And stared.

"N-No big deal...r-right?"

And stared some more.

"...I'll be fine."

Yukio gritted his teeth in anger at the quiet reassurance in the statement, because even after all this time, Rin _still _wasn't looking out for himself. He was trying to make Yukio feel better about the whole situation, even when his one and only wish – to have true friends – was being slowly shredded to pieces before his eyes. "Nii-san..."

"I'll be _fine_."

Yukio stared just a little longer, trying to express how very important Rin's happiness was to him, even if he didn't show it often, while still remaining calm and collected, before leaving.

_If they hurt you..._

_I'll tell you._

_Will you really?_

Rin dressed himself properly, blushing a little when Yukio called up the stairs, "By the way, your boxers are on your head!" and rushing to his room to grab his school-necessary things.

Now he stood in front of the door, ashamed to find his hand shaking in nervousness. It shouldn't be this hard! Just...walk in, sit down, right? If he ignores the glances and pretends that everything's normal, then maybe they won't bother him.

Rin already knows that Bon is going to be a pain, because he's just the kind of guy that isn't able to _not _antagonize the subjects of his hatred. He'll be in Rin's face, screaming for a fight any chance he can get, and Rin is getting exhausted just _thinking _about it. He sighs – this is not gonna be fun.

He'll just pretend that he doesn't notice the looks. Head down, grin on, feet forward. Yukio will recognize his posture – _coming home from school, he'd gotten into another fight, it doesn't matter, head down, grin on, feet forward, Yukio sighs beside him dissapointedly_ – but Rin wasn't concerned. His little brother wouldn't say anything about it until they were alone. It wasn't teacher-ly.

And yet Rin couldn't, for the life of him, put the key into the lock and just _turn. _It should be a simple action, honestly, just forward and twist and...but no, wait. He was just trying to distract himself. Rin did _not _want to go in there, it was going to be _so _unpleasant, so gut-wrenching, but whatever. He very rarely got what he wanted anyway.

Just breathe. Don't think about it, just breathe and go. You're not very good at thinking anyway, isn't that what Yukio said? Sojust _go already_.

And he did.

_Oh, dear lord, _and then, _Crap, of course, Yukio noticed, _Were his first thoughts as he closed the door, because Yukio's eyes had indeed sharpened in understanding and a look that the demon twin mentally translated into you-and-i-will-be-having-a-talk-later at the entrance of his elder brother.

Rin paused and tilted his head to the side, inhaling. He almost gagged.

Rin could literally _smell _the fear and hate on his once-friends. It was horrible, but...kind of relieving, in a way. Not the fact that they were scared of him – that _sucked. _Badly. No, it was the fact that he knew what he could expect from them now that lifted a burden off of his chest – even if it was replaced by one much, much larger.

Back home, everyone knew the name Rin Okumura. You either hated him or feared him. You fought him or you ran from him; that was it. There was no liking his personality, hanging out with him, thinking he was a cool guy. No. That wasn't how things _worked _with Rin, because even though he always tried to do good, it somehow always looked like bad. And even if he actually _did _do something right for once, somebody turned it around into something horrible and untrue and terrible.

Which was why he had been _absolutely fucking blindsided _when Bon told him to rely on people. To rely on _him, _this mowhawk'd, ear peircing'd, scowling, _friend _of his. And he did. For a short (oh, so short) time, Rin _did. _But...Rin Okumura doesn't _rely _on _people_, he lets _people_ rely on _him. _That was how it had always been. Rin relies on someone, Rin dies. Game over.

And then the hinted friendship? Sitting there with a bunch of people he knew, not fighting with them, and actually finding himself having a good time? The only thing he could think was _huh? _and after that, _this is nice._

But goddammit, he should have _known_. He should have _known _that this would happen, he should have _known _that they would turn on him when they found out. Gehenna, he had turned on _himself _when he found out! How could he expect them to still trust him? To still be nice to him? But no. He was an idiot. He had thought, _they're genuinely nice people, they'll understand that I didn't choose to have Satan as my father. _

Yeah. He had been _stupid._

How could _children_ (because they were just _kids_, and yeah, he forgot; as grown as he was on the inside, as jaded, they weren't. Despite their horrible pasts, they weren't...world weary, in a way. Not like him) with such terrible memories of Satan be expected to forgive him? By exorcist law – even if it was a stupid-ass law – it was a sin for him to even be _alive. _

_How in the hell _could he expect kindness? Friendship? _Any positive emotion whatsoever? _In their eyes, he didn't deserve _any _of that. And Rin hated to think of it as _them _and _me, _but that's really what it was, wasn't it?

They hated him for something he couldn't control – believe him, if he could have chosen Jiji as his biological father instead of the Demon Lord, he would have. Without hesitation, because _this_? This power, a tail, some pointy ears, a fancy sword? _This _was not worth gaining and then losing his first real friends in the blink of an eye. This would _never _be worth his friends; _nothing _would ever be worth his friends, and that was that.

(Because as pathetic as it sounded; he still considered them friends. He would be there for them, even if they weren't there for him. He was just insanely loyal like that).

Rin turned around to gently close the door, reluctant to face the occupants of the classroom, letting it slide closed with a soft _click _that seemed to resonate around the suddenly silent room. He could feel the stares on his body, pinning him down with a force that he'd let none but his family wield before.

He cared about the opinions these people had of him, and damn if that wasn't new. It had never mattered to him what people thought of him before. As long as Rin's family was there for him, he didn't care, because he knew that they, at least, had his back.

But Rin realized as he slowly turned around that it did matter what his friends thought of him. He cared.

Well, damn. That was an advantage that Satan and his minions could use. Just nab one of the people in this room and _boom, _docile and obedient Rin Okumura, at your service.

Shiemi, poor Shiemi, was trembling violently in her seat, eyes wide and staring at her desk in an effort to not look at the boy – no, _demon, _he was a_ demon, oh god_ – who scared her so. All of the courage that had prompted her to _hug_ him, of all things, when he had lost control fighting Amaimon had seemingly vanished. Rin smiled sadly to himself as he snagged a seat at the far corner of the room, in a effort to calm the sweet girl's obviously frayed nerves.

Izumo just kept on doing what she always did, which Rin was thankful for. It was, at least, some semblance of normalcy that he could cling to, as long as he didn't try to talk to her. She would probably still act the same toward him, but 'the same' for her wasn't very nice at all, so he just grinned in thanks and ignored the haughty glare he received in turn.

The puppet guy...what was his name? Takeshi...Takoto...Takemi...Takara! Yeah, Nemu Takara. He just kind of played with his puppet and mumbled poems about death. Rin tried to ignore him.

Bon was, obviously, the most hostile – Rin could feel his glare from the back of the room, aimed right at his head, and winced. Suguro wasn't going to make this easy on him, huh? It figured. Whatever, he'd deal with it when it happened – the genius wasn't likely to jeopardize his marks just to fight with Rin.

Konekomaru was about as scared as Shiemi was, shaking and glancing at the half-demon out of the corner of his eye every so often as though he was about to explode with otherworldly power and kill them all. As if; Rin wouldn't – _couldn't_ – lose control again - he _refused _endanger the people around him like that.

Shima, the pink haired idiot that he was, was trying to reason with his friends. He honestly didn't think that Okumura had changed all that much. He'd always been the son of Satan, right? Why start worrying about it now? But Konekomaru wouldn't be swayed and Bon wasn't angry at him being Satan's son; he was angry that Rin hadn't trusted them with the information in the first place.

Not that anyone knew that, of course; it would ruin the whole smart-but-a-rebellious-punk thing he had going on.

Shima just kind of shrugged helplessly at Rin. He wasn't willing to lose his friends for a guy he had just met, and Rin could understand that, so he flashed a grin in return and waved the pinkett's worried frown away with his hand.

He studiously ignored the room-wide – except for Yukio, of course, cool calm and collected Yukio – flinch at the flippant action.

It was actually kind of depressing, Rin mused, absently taking down notes about whatever Yukio was talking about. But whatever. He'd lived with worse. He ignored the voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Jiji saying something he'd told Rin after one of his many fights and denied being hurt badly.

"_Just because you've lived with worse before doesn't mean you have to settle with bad now."_

The day wore on, and Rin felt the weight of glances and drawn-out stares until the bell rang. He packed up quickly, wanting to get home as soon as he could and burrow himself in the comforters of his bed where none of the stares (those terrible eyes, drilling holes into his very soul, save him – save him – _somebody please save him, _but no, no one there, he has to save himself, as always) could reach him.

Rin Okumura shuffled out of the room, head down, grin on, feet forward, eyes dim.

_. . . _

_If they hurt you..._

_I'll tell you._

_Will you really?_

_No._


	2. Some People Don't Understand

**A/N: Hey guys! _Should Have Known Pt.2 _is written and reviewed, but I'm gonna be evil and have you read this first**

**Okay, so I've told some of you this in PM's, but I'm running on a new updating system: Say I'm starting a new chapter story. I'll write chapter 1, then review it. I'll write chapter 2, then review it. I'll post chapter 1. I'll write chapter three, then review it. I'll post chapter two. I'll write chapter 4, and review it. I'll post chapter 3, and so on and so fourth.**

**I'm sorry, I didn't know how to explain that without an example. I'm not starting a new chapter story by the way, that was just for clarification purposes.**

**Anyway, this system means that UPDATES MAY TAKE A LITTLE WHILE, but the old system I had wasn't working – it was making me NOT want to write. Now that I have a good one, I expect things to go a bit more smoothly.**

**Anyway, this chapter is a quite bit smaller than _Should Have Known Pt.1_, but fear not! _Should Have Known Pt.2 _is just as long as Pt.1, if not longer.**

Enjoy!

Some People Don't Understand

Rin Okumura lay curled in his bed silently, staring at the wall, lightly scraping his fingertips against the silky fur of his newly-acquired tail. He'd flit his nails up and down the whip- like part, shivering, before gently running his fingers through the tuft at the end, and repeat the process. He exhaled softly at the feeling, slipping his eyes shut and trying not to pant – it was hard to explain but it was _good._

He really needed a bit of good in his life right now.

Rin had received the_ gift _two nights prior, along with a sword that, apparently, sealed away his demonic powers – another lovely _present_ that the death of his true father ( _Don't you dare call yourself my father ever again - he would never regret saying anything more in his life_) had granted him with. And yes, when you heard the phrase 'Demonic Powers', you heard correctly. Rin was a half-demon, not that he' known this fact for very long. He was the son of Satan.

Yeah. Rin was still trying to come to terms with that one himself, nevermind the all-composing blue flames and smooth black tail that sent shivers up his spine when touched.

Satan. God, he was the son of _Satan_. Rin's mind flashed to_ that night_, when Jiji had been possessed by his biological father. Blood running down the previously kind, weathered face in rivulets, cruel, too-wide grin stretched across suddenly-sharp teeth. High, mocking laughter that swirled gleefully along with the sudden blue flames in the air, taunting Rin's weak, pathetic state. Jiji gaining control enough to kill himself so that Rin wouldn't be taken to...wherever Satan had been planning on dumping him. Rin sobbing, slumped against his new sword, unable to look at the body of his true father laying in a prone mass behind him. His mind started shifting to other memories that he had shared with Jiji, spiraling, going through them with a fine-toothed comb. Searching – and succeeding in finding – all of the things he had said to hurt, could have said to heal, hadn't said to reassure...

Rin sighed, trying to picture all of his regrets breaking past the floodgates of his lips with that breath of air, curling into the space around him in a sorrowful _whoosh._

The only thing his traitorous mind could come up with was all of them being sucked back in as if by the pull of a depressive magnet, over and over and over again. Everything he had seen in his nightmares – like the horrific scene of his Jiji's death, not once or twice but over and over gain, never stopping, never relenting, _always_ there,_ constant_, taunting him, reminding him of the _blood on his hands oh god _– came rushing back with a crushing force. Rin curled further into himself, wanting to throw up and scream and sob all at once. Instead, he did nothing but shake his head softly and try to dispel the scenes from his mind – he'd see them enough in his sleep later that night, he knew, and would rather live through those horrid moments again later rather than sooner.

Rin sighed again, rolling over to face the empty space of his room, glad that he and Yukio had gotten separate beds a few years ago. Separate beds meant separate rooms, separate living spaces. Rin had started washing his own things then. Too much blood, you know? Yukio had been getting angry that the scab wounds from Rin's near constant scuffles kept splitting in the night, ruining their bedsheets. Not to mention the clothes he'd been wearing when fighting in the first place...

They had been...what, nine? Ten? Somewhere around then, anyway. At nine-or-ten years old, the Okumura twins had gotten into regular verbal fights, mostly about Rin's_, quote, _fighting habits, _unquote_.

Needless to say, Rin had been immensely irritated at the obliviousness of his family, once Yukio had turned to them in exasperation and anger. Rin told them that it wasn't purposeful, that he didn't have fighting habits, that fighting had habits of coming to him.

But they didn't listen to him, accusations such as _irresponsible_ and _trouble-seeker_ being slung to and fro around like casual conversation. Rin had scoffed, declared loudly that he wasn't going to put up with this bullshit, grabbed some spare blankets out of the supply closet, and made a nest in an empty room (which was actually pretty hard, because they had plenty of rooms, but very few of them were habitable). His small hoard of belongings had been out of Yukio's room and into his self-decided new one by his own hands in under five minutes, and Rin had promptly locked the door and fallen asleep on his pile-of-blankets-and-pillow.

His family hadn't been too happy about that one. He hadn't cared.

Rin shuddered lightly, this time in mental anguish and not pleasure (ah, that tail...), scolding himself on _once again_ letting memories of his family _(whole, intact, maybe not peaceful all the time but there and that was enough, had been enough, would never be enough again) _invade his as-of-late fragile mind. It seemed to happen all the time now. The memories always plagued him, never stopped pushing against the forefront of his thoughts. Knowing that he'd never see Jiji again was-

His thought process was (thankfully) cut off when he spotted a small swarm of coal tar float by. Now, this had become a regular occurrence since two days ago, when he had received his _temptaint_ and had suddenly been able to see demons. Rin, of course, hadn't known that the little black things were called coal tar, and had internally named them _Kaibun._

_Ashes._

What brought his eyes to the small flock, however, was one measly _Kaibun _that seemed to be...struggling?

The _Kaibun _always seemed to be pulled along by an invisible force, and were perfectly content to go with the flow. This one, though, seemed desperate – frantic, almost – to escape the pull. It was just so small, so insignificant, that it couldn't change it's own fate.

In his usual, devil-may-care way of dealing with things, Rin decided to help the poor little thing and plucked it out of the air by it's tail, unmindful of the danger he may or may not be putting himself in. He didn't know if these things were dangerous, after all. It might bite him out of nowhere and kill him with fast-acting poison or something. Rin, of course, snatched it up anyway. The _Kaibun_ seemed surprised, glancing at Rin with wider-than-usual eyes, as though disbelieving that someone _(thing, Rin's mind whispered devilishly)_ would ever help it.

Rin brought it closer to his eye level, merely inches away from his face. "Hey there," he said, "I couldn't help but notice that you seemed to want out." He almost face-palmed – what was he doing? This thing probably didn't even have a brain! But to his surprise, the tiny demon squeaked out a response at him. Even_ more_ astonishing than that, Rin _understood _it.

Well, that sure explained all the bodiless voices he'd been hearing lately, Rin murmured sardonically to himself. Mentally, of course.

"_I did! I did! I am glad! You have saved me! I am glad!"_

Rin blinked. "Well you're certainly energetic." He said, still pinching the Kaibun's tail between his fingers so that it wasn't sucked away when it wiggled it's four little legs at him. _"I am! You saved me! I am glad!"_

Rin hummed. "Mmhm. You said that already."

"_I did! I am sorry! Higher class demons smarter! I am sorry!"_

He was honestly amused by the tinny sounding voice that seemed to echo inside his head instead of in the air around him...he'd have to look that up later. "'S okay, little guy," Rin muttered, sitting up and unraveling the covers from his body with one hand, "I'm not that bright either."

"_Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Prince is wrong! Prince is high class! Prince is wrong!" _The little demon shuffled adorably in it's displeasure. Rin almost cooed at it.

Rin pursed his lips. "Please don't call me 'Prince', little guy." he said distractedly, rummaging through his closet for a piece of string.

_"Kito is sorry! Kito displeased Prin - Smart one! Kito is sorry!" _'Kito', apparently, did a guilty, full body shiver-type-thing that had Rin feeling very douche-like all of a sudden. Rin was struck by a different thought. Maybe that was it! Maybe instead of biting him with poisonous fangs, Kito would kill him by making him explode with cute vibes and guilt vibes combined!

Rin chuckled, tying one end of the string around the little, circular body, then knotting the other end to his bed post. "Just call me Rin, Kito."

"_Kito will! Kito will! Kito also has a question!" _It raised a stubby foreleg, and Rin wondered if they had schools in Hell (because where else could Satan and his minions/slaves be but Hell?). _"Is Rin keeping Kito?"_

"For as long as I can, yeah. I'll let you go if you want me to." Rin wanted to pet it. Rin _really_ wanted to pet it.

"_Kito does not! Kito will stay with Rin!"_

_...Must resist urge to scratch behind ear...must resist...MUST RESIST...resistance failed._

Rin chuckled, rubbing the little thing on the head with one finger. It rubbed up against the digit, producing a sound not unlike a purr, and bounced a couple of times when Rin reluctantly moved his finger away, grinning at him. "M'kay, little guy. I'm gonna go to sleep. See you in the morning, Kito."

"_Kito will wait! Goodnight Rin!"_

Rin wondered it he, himself, could purr.

He could.

This was going to be so useful in the future, he just knew it.

Rin smiled lightly and bid Kito goodnight as his eyes slipped closed. Some people didn't understand, but demons were actually very much like people. They were predominantly evil _– the Akasen, little girls and boys being raped, human trafficking, murderers, arsonists, the list goes on and on –_ but there were a few that were genuinely good, that honestly tried to be helpful. It was terribly sad, because the good demons were often shot down with the rest like...savage dogs, or something.

.

.

.

Rin didn't have any nightmares that night.

.

.

.

He did, however, wake up to an empty loop of string and one single, shining bullet resting innocently inside.


	3. Should Have Known Pt2

**AN: I'm sorry! I'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry! Ugh, remember that posting system that I was going on about? Well, for this chapter, that will be disregarded because I'm about halfway done with the next one and I haven't reviewed it yet, so no. Just, no. **

**Have fun, kiddies!**

Should Have Known pt.2

Bon watched angrily as Rin slowly closed the door to the classroom, seemingly reluctant to turn around and face his peers again. He made to sit in his regular seat when Shiemi's shaking, terrified form greeted him, and instead of forcing his presence on her, he smiled and retreated to the empty desk nearest to the door. Bon mentally raised an eyebrow – why should Rin care if the girl was afraid of him? But he eventually he shrugged it off. Whatever, you know? It wasn't his choice, he didn't need to meddle, blah blah blah.

It was his choice, however, to glare daggers at the back of a certain blue head. Bon saw his shoulders stiffen, caught a glimpse of the black tail flicker nervously, but kept at it. If he annoyed Rin to the point that _he_ was the one who started a fight in the middle of class, Bon's marks wouldn't go down for retaliating in self defense.

Rin hadn't backed down from a challenge before. Why would he now? When class was over (and maybe even before then) Bon expected the half-demon to come a-running, fists cocked and guns blazing. _That _certainly didn't happen. Instead, Rin _once again _decided to defy all expectations and slouch out of the room as the bell rang, not even glancing at anyone when he left.

What? _What?_

Did that...that little _maggot _just completely ignore a challenge from Suguro Ryuji?

Well, damn. He had _guts._ Unfortunately, that little display of defiance made Bon angry – very, _very_ angry. So angry, in fact, that Bon sat and just _watched _for the moment that Rin stepped out of school's borderline. As long as the fight wasn't on school property, Principal Pheles couldn't do anything about it. And ah, and there it was! Rin was nearing the edge of the borders...just a little bit longer now..

Five steps.

Four steps.

Three steps.

Two steps.

One step.

_Go!_

Bon dashed away from the spot he had been in, charging at Rin with the ferocity of an angry bull. He was only about thirty feet away, he'd get there in no time, maybe surprise-punch the half demon as a 'hello' before explaining to the dense brat _why _Bon was about to beat him senseless.

And that all probably would've happened (and yes, Rin would've lost, like hell he was gonna fight a friend) except for the fact that Bon didn't clear ten of those thirty feet before someone (thing?) snagged the back of his collar and dragged him into a side-alley.

"What the-"

"Hush."

Bon's eyes widened. "Okumura-sensei?"

"Yes."

"Why are you-"

"I said _hush_."

And damn if that didn't send a chill down Bon's side because _whoa, Sensei means business. "_Okay," he managed to choke out, "okay, if you tell me whyI've been suddenly pulled into an alley – which _totally _isn't stalker-ish, by the way –, I'll _gladly _shut up." He could almost feel the waves of Okumura-sensei's disgust flow outward at his demand. "Do not forget that while I am his teacher, I am also his brother."

Oh, yeah.

Instead of saying it like _that_ and seeming like a total idiot, Bon settled quickly into his default mechanism; fight. "Oh yeah?" he said, making the phrase sound almost challenging, "Well, I don't see how you can call yourself that, _sensei._ You act like his superior all the time. There isn't anything brotherly about that." He felt the minute flinch at his hot-tempered reply, but the hand gripping his collar, preventing his escape, didn't loosen in the slightest. Damn, he had been relying on that lapse to get away. Oh, well.

Yukio completely disregarded the boy's jab, instead choosing to say, "I will not allow you to harm him." as if it wasn't already apparent. Because people who want you harmed always corner your unwell-wishers against side alley walls. "Why not," Bon argued, "he needs a good beat down every once in a-"

_Smack!_

Bon's cheek instantly reddened from the force of the blow. "Did you just-" he began angrily, but was _once again_ cut off. "I will _not_ allow you to harm my brother for something he couldn't have controlled!" This was the angriest that he had ever seen sensei, and on any other occasion Bon would've just let him rant – the guy's his teacher, after all – but he was pretty fired up too. "Bullshit! He can control whether or not he tells us about it!"

Yukio, being the smart cookie that he is, caught on quickly. "Wait," he murmured, "you're not angry at him for being Satan's son, are you?"

Screw the mowhawk – Bon pulled at his hair in frustration, "_No!_ He's still the same little idiot that sleeps in class and fails his tests; knowing who gave him half of his DNA doesn't suddenly change his personality and make him a bloodthirsty monster! I'm _angry_ because he didn't trust us enough to tell him in the first place!"

Yukio pushed his glasses back to their rightful position on his nose. "It's not his fault." he said quietly. Bon growled at him angrily, "I _know_, we've been _over this_ already-"

"No. The fact that he didn't trust you – that's not his fault."

Bon stared at him incredulously. He was about to make a smart-ass comment when a familiar voice floated over from behind him. "How so, Okumura-sensei?"

Shima stood at the entrance of the alley, arms crossed and looking uncharacteristically serious. The other exwires were behind him, all wide-eyed. Bon felt his own eyes grow in size at the sight "You – and them – what – how long have you been standing there?"

Izumo smirked at him, tossing her hair smugly over a shoulder, "Ever since you told Okumuras-sensei that he behaves like Rin's superior and not his brother." Bon flicked his eyes to each of them in turn, searching for verification. They all nodded and he groaned despairingly, saying things such as, "What's the point of training if I can't sense four people just _standing_ not ten feet away from me for over three minutes? Why do I even bother?" and then trailing off into small grumblings.

Everyone ignored him.

"Anyway," Shima said, "back to the discussion at hand. Why isn't it Rin's fault that he can't trust us now? Or, better yet, why wouldn't he have been able to trust us in the first place?"

Yukio sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He knew that he was going to regret this, and that he was going to catch hell from Rin when he found out that his younger brother had practically spewed his life story, but...

Rin was good – worryingly so – at keeping his true emotions from being seen, and after Father died, Yukio was the only person in regular contact with his brother that knew what his childhood was like. The people at the monastery knew some of the things that happened, but Rin had kept a lot of the things he experienced to himself instead of asking them for help – it was just part of his nature. A very _frustrating_ part of his nature, but part of it nonetheless. Even Yukio suspected that he barely knew anything of what his elder brother had had to put up with when they were younger – and even less so now that his secret was out.

Yukio pressed his lips together in a thin, stressed line, and began.

"Our family wasn't all that rich when we were growing up and we lived in a not-so-great part of town. Rin – how he managed to do this I'll never know – got himself a job as a part-time bartender to help with expenses. He kept it from everyone for a long time, though. My father and I had our suspicions, of course, but we only found out for sure when Rin told us himself a couple of years ago."

_Eight year old Rin panted softly, feet pounding on the pavement as he dragged his younger brother, Yukio, behind him. They were taking the side alleys to get home quickly, which was actually really stupid, because. Y'know, thugs. Murderers. The likes. But they needed to get home before dark. That was one of Jiji's few rules: get home before dark, and don't go outside on Halloween. Rin normally wouldn't make such an idiotic decision as to run through the slums to get home, but he was used to hopping fences and cutting across yards like nobody's business._

_Yukio, however, wasn't, so a compromise had to be made. Admittedly, this wasn't such a great compromise, but Jiji had had such a serious look on his face when he'd told them to be home before the sun set..._

_Rin didn't want to find out what would happen if he broke that rule, so he ignored the leers and whistles at his sides from drunkards and druggies alike, keeping his eyes on the path ahead of him. He didn't glance from his destination, didn't waver from his purpose, and most of all, didn't let go of Yukio's hand._

_Who knew what would happen to his little brother if he was swallowed by the akasen?_

_Just a couple of streets away from home, now. And damn if they didn't live way too close to this foul place for Rin's comfort, but whatever. He knew that Jiji didn't have the money to live anywhere nicer – or farther away – so he tried not to complain too much. He had to come here every Tuesday anyway, so sometimes the distance was kind of helpful in not being late._

_It was Yukio he was worried about. His little brother wasn't accustomed to places like this. "Just keep your eyes on my back," Rin muttered behind him as he ran, "don't look away." Rin smiled when he felt the sudden, intense stare focused on him. Yukio had always done better when he had a clear goal set._

_They arrived home shortly, and Rin cooked dinner while Yukio went up the stairs to take a quick bath. When the food was on the table, cooling, and his brother was working on homework, Rin went up to do the same. He came back down and ate dinner with his family, laughed at Jiji's lame jokes, proudly exclaimed that he hadn't gotten into any fights that day, and shimmied into he and Yukio's shared bed._

"_It's more special if you share it with someone you love." Jiji had explained when they had first gotten it. Yukio had accepted the reasoning readily, but Rin had narrowed his eyes and quietly scoffed to himself. He had felt Jiji's stare as he climbed into that bed for the first time, vowing to somehow help his father make a bit more money._

_He had ventured into the slums again the next day, and was very surprised to immediately get job working for an hour every Tuesday as a bartender. He was eight, and these people were willing to let him work in such a profession, no question asked? Rin understood that this was the akasen and that he really shouldn't be surprised, but their eagerness was still a bit disconcerting. He supposed he was a bit grateful though – there were less...distinguished houses and professions that wouldn't have minded a fair, skinny eight year old boy such as himself working there._

_Every Tuesday night from then on, seven dollars mysteriously found their way to Shiro's pillow in the time that it took for him to shower and put pajamas on. It was very confusing to the occupants of the house._

Yukio shook his head to dispel that particular memory. "Anyway, we – the family, myself, and Rin – would get into frequent fights because of how much trouble Rin got into. Please don't ask about all of the things that happened, just know that he was doing good for someone and somehow, _every single time_, it got painted as something against him. No one ever stuck up for him, but he continued to do help people and get in trouble for it for years. I honestly don't remember a time when he wasn't fighting for someone else's benefit. " Yeah. That prejeduce still kind of messed with Yukio's head a bit.

He sighed and shook his head. "It was extremely frustrating, because Rin would never simply correct the person scolding him, never say that he had been doing something good. He'd just sit there and take whatever people dished out to him and leave and do it all over again. He isn't a person that shares his pain with others – he'd rather try to suck everyone's hurt from them and make himself feel it instead."

Yukio grimaced as he remembered his brother willingly being run through by Neuhaus just to see if the man felt better afterward. He'd leave that story for another time though. The kids were already wide-eyed and shocked enough for today.

"I'm not expecting you to instantly warm up to him again, even though you should." he pauses to glare at Bon, "But I _am_ expecting you not to go try to pick fights with him."

Yukio nods to himself and spins on his heel, jogging lightly to joing his brother, who was far ahead but still visible. He greets the half demon and says something that makes Rin start violently, almost dropping his books, before he snatches one up and swats at Yukio with it.

The exwires are sufficiently amused and laugh lightly for a moment before something red explodes against the back of Rin's head. All laughter crumbles into shocked silence instantaneously.

It seems as if everyone, including Rin, freezes. He hands Yukio his books and wipes at the back of his head slowly, bringing his now red-coated hand into view.

He licks it.

Then smiles.

Then takes his books back and continues to walk on like nothing happened, dragging Yukio – who lookes positively murderous, guns out and up and everything – along before he could cause some serious damage. The realization of how terribly _easily_ the tomato could have been a bullet soaked in holy water settled in on the exwires in the moments that Rin wrestled with his brother's protective fury. Bon is the first to get over his shock and growls, "Cheap shot!" into the air, spinning around to try and spot the culprit.

Shima places a hand on his shoulder to keep him in place even while his own eyes acan the crowd for hints of the culprit.

It's a hopeless endeavor, of course, but as the saying goes, it was the thought that counted.

The exwires hadn't forgiven Rin yet. No, it was still too early for that - the memory of blood lusting eyes and all-composing blue flames was still too fresh for any imagined slights to be forgotten - but their eyes were slowly being opened to the possibility that Rin wasn't a monster by birth, and that was enough for now.

**akasen - red light district**

**Review please - anything (it was good, it was bad, i want to burn my eyeballs out, i want to burn _your_ eyeballs out) will make me smile! Constructive criticism is helpful, and if you don't want to do that, just talk. I'd actually like to get to know you guys. :)**

**Also: Reminder of the Day - Smile :)**

*** Edit: Blackcat201 was kind enough to let me know that I hadn't explained that the red thing exploding on the back of Rin's head was a tomato. If I ever make assumptions that you live inside of my head and therefore know what i am talking about when you most assuredly do not, don't hesitate to let me know - i'm absent-minded and do things like this (and walk into walls and other assorted stationary objects) daily. Anyway, everybody give a cheer and raise a glass of whatever liquid is nearest to you at the moment to Blackcat201!**


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